


Jeynes of Joy

by Sookiestark



Series: A Glorying of Jeynes [1]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Family, Gen, Mother-Son Relationship, Sister-Sister Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:27:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28939239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sookiestark/pseuds/Sookiestark
Summary: Small one-shots for each of the Jeynes found in ASOIAF- This group will be the joyful Jeynes.
Relationships: Cleos Frey/Jeyne Darry, Emmon Frey/Genna Lannister
Series: A Glorying of Jeynes [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2122527
Kudos: 2





	Jeynes of Joy

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place at Riverrun about a week after Emmon Frey is made Lord of Riverrrun.

Triumph-Jeyne Darry-the wife of Cleos Frey

Lady Jeyne Darry Frey is watching her good mother as she sits in the main hall of Riverrun next to her godfather and the new Lord of Riverrun, Lord Emmon Frey. The sun shines through the red and blue-stained glass and looks like jewels at the feet of Lady Genna Lannister Frey’s feet. 

Lady Genna’s face is proud and haughty as a Lannister. She looks a great deal like her nephew, Ser Jaime Lannister, who left less than a week ago, ending the siege of Riverrun. The Lannisters are known for their gold, their pride, and their good looks. Jeyne knows this is why Genna is still referred to as Lady Lannister instead of Frey. What are Freys known for? Upstarts, Money-grubbing. Chin-less, spine-less fools. Men with no honor. Weasels. 

Ty looks at her. He is seated on the right of his grandfather and she is seated on the right of her son. Ty is a good boy, handsome, strong, and clever. Lady Genna likes to think he is all Lannister and no Frey. She brags on it, swears on it. But when Jeyne looks at his strong chin and the smile that is on his lips and in his eyes, she agrees that she sees no Frey. But she sees a Darry man, through and through. He is the image of her father and departed brother. She had prayed for this while she was pregnant, that their sons would take after her and have no part of their father. 

Genna named him Tywin after her favorite brother, after the Lord of Casterly Rock. It was what Genna wanted and what she wanted always seemed to happen without question. Jeyne had not cared as long as he was not named Walder. From the moment, Ty was born she felt as if she was given hope, something to live for in the grey Twins. 

Sitting here in the Great Hall, hearing the pledges of loyalty from the knights and lords around Riverrun, there is a swell in my chest like pride but it is different, stronger, brighter like the red and blue light on the stones. Her eldest son, Ty, smiles at her for a second and looks back over the Hall. Genna looks over and her smile dips a bit in displeasure but her face is as pretty and unmovable as the stained glass. 

Triumph- that must be the feeling that is in her chest. 

They have not called for Willem, her youngest, yet and she knows it is because Genna plays a game, keeping the boys apart, an heir to Riverrun and a spare. She has called Lionel and his wife here, but not Red Walder. She needs to have spares in case . It is not good to keep all your eggs in one basket. Just in case. There is a fear in this that Jeyne is acutely aware of what it means. It means that they may be unsafe. Freys are dying daily across the Seven Kingdoms and the Blackfish escaped. Jeyne has seen how the staff at Riverrun looks at them when no one is looking. She has spent houses reading and even more hours watching Genna plot and plan. She knows quickly how the tables can turn and triumph can sour like milk left out too long. 

After all, thirty years ago, House Darry was a house beloved by the King, a House that had the King’s ear. Now, all the male heirs of House Darry lie in the ground. All that is left are Darry girls married to Freys and their children. Plowman’s Keep is held by her sister’s, Mariya, slutty daughter, Ami, and her pious Lannister husband. It is said that the boy Lannister would rather pray than bed the girl so she beds the rest of the keep. Mariya turns a blind eye to the mess and pretends she is the proper lady of Darry like their mother had been. Mariya is a fool, a mean-spirited braggart, a blind vain fool.

Years ago, Mariya had bragged at how she had gotten a handsome man, strong enough to lift a wagon, a true knight. She had bragged that the King had his hands in her marriage as a way to consolidate his true loyalist families, a way to reward and consolidate families loyal to the monarch, House Frey and House Darry. Mariya, in a dream-like reverie, would speak how her sons might be in the Kingsguard, or the Small Council. Perhaps, her son might even be the Hand of the King. Anything had been possible. Mariya was bold and brash, crowing over his virtues, how big, how strong, how handsome. Merrett Frey, the ninth son of Walder Frey, was a huge hulking brute of a man with brown eyes that seemed kind enough, clever enough. It was clear he had been interested in her sister, enough. 

Even then, Jeyne had wondered why he was not a knight yet, Maraiya’s great big hulking brute of a husband. Later, she would learn he had injuries that gave him unbearable headaches, rendering him useless, a fat useless Frey.

When she was betrothed, there was no such merriment. We were a disgraced house, traitors, and treasonous. King Robert had forgiven my father and brother but it was seen as healing that we would be married into House Frey again, only this time on the Lannister branch. Jeyne had been brought to his mother first, Genna Lannister who spent most of her time at Casterly Rock than at the Twins. She had looked over her as if she was a horse, and watched her eat and drink cakes as if she might be hiding signs of madness 

Jeyne knew who was the lord and master of this family. Genna was. On her wedding day in the Twins, Mariya had laughed, “Cleos is chinless and looks like a weasel. I doubt he could lift a goose. He is scrawny. He is more lamb than a lion.”

Of course, Mariya had grown fat in the six years she had been married, having three girls and no sons in sight. Her husband had become the biggest drunk in the Twins and she had become more shrewish. My brother was the new lord of Derry then and told me that he had found me the best Frey he could, that he had negotiated and done his best. Cleos Frey, eldest son of Emmon Frey and Genna Lannister, a knight and a first cousin to the Queen. Raymund had wiped her tears away, “I have heard he is a good man, true to his word, loyal, good. The best match in House Frey I could find for my little sister. He will be good to you. Your children will have more opportunity by this match than House Frey or House Darry could give them.” 

The only thing Lannister about her husband, Cleos, was the gold lion on his shield and his green eyes. She had been pretty and polite and her dowry had not hurt. Cleos Frey was the best that Raymund could do. He had been the best she could do. When Cleos had bedded her, it had been with the passion of a dying fish. When Jeyne had tried to connect with him, she had found Cleos’ intellect matched the dying fish, slapping the beach as it died on the shore of a lake, never seeing the water. But Cleos had been kind and caring. Cleos had tried but he had not the skill to win her heart.

Instead, Jeyne poured her heart, her love, her dreams into the sons Cleos gave her. She had bided her time, watching Genna. She was quiet. She was faithful. She waited. When news of Cleos' brave death was told to her, she dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief and even squeezed out a few tears. She had done that for Tywin. After all, a son should believe his mother loved his father. 

But today, after breakfast, Genna dismissed Jeyne to her sewing so they could talk and take counsel about plans for the future, something happened. Ty spoke, looking at his grandfather, “Excuse me, Papa.”

It was his childhood endearment for his grandfather. Though Emmon was a cold man, his heart would warm for his grandchildren and in Jeyne’s eyes, it was the most admirable and attractive quality Emmon Frey had. 

“I was thinking it might be good if Mother stayed. After all, she has been a Riverlander her whole life. She knows the land, the people, and she is not a Lannister by birth or blood. Unlike all of us, she may see something we do not. She may be helpful. I would like her to stay.” 

For an instant, Genna’s face was ice and fire. Her anger was palpable but in an instant, her face was as serene as the Mother’s. Lionel looked at his father and back to his mother, clearly anxious at what would happen next. Even Jeyne had felt nervous to look directly at her good mother or good father, but she had willed herself to, pretending she was as strong and haughty as Genna or Mariya, even if she felt the anxiety crawling up her spine. After all, if she wanted to give counsel, she must not cower or appear afraid. 

Emmon had looked at his grandson and taken his hand. “Of course, Ty. Of course, Genna was always near when your father or his brothers took counsel from their grandfather or Lord Lannister. It would be remiss if the Heir of Riverrun’s mother was not here to give him her counsel.”

Emmon had smiled reassuringly at Ty and Jeyne, ignoring his wife’s anger. For a moment, Jeyne saw the triumph in Emmon’s face at having the pleasure and power to disobey his wife’s wishes. It wasn’t often he was in such a place to be able to do such a thing. But perhaps, as Lord of Riverrun, Emmon Frey might find a spine, even if he would never acquire a chin. 

So, even as the fear of harm sits in all the corners of her body, Jeyne sits on the right side of her son and thinks to herself that the swell in her chest must be triumph. Cleos would not dare cross his mother. None of Genna’s boys would. But Ty did. She was right and Ty is a Darry man, through and through. He will make a great lord. He will make a good man. Smiling to herself, she understands why Genna likes the feeling so much. Women often do not get to feel such a delicious feeling. Triumph.


End file.
